A New Beginning
by Alexis McLean
Summary: Umm... a new girl comes to Hogwarts and finds heads turning her way. Feelings are questioned and rumors are spread. Not a slash! Story's better than summary, come see.
1. The Sorting Ceremony

Gold. That was all that was visible in the midst of light and laughter. Alexis walked down what was called the "Great Hall"- and with good reason- and marveled at the immense glory that seemed to fill it. Looking around, she could see the many eyes of the students turn in her direction and follow her as she walked. Finally, the elderly witch leading the group of newcomers, stopped her pace. They were directly in front of a long table, which seated all of the teachers. With the floating candles over it, it looked like Olympus, and the teachers like Gods. Alexis shuddered with nervousness as she stepped above the rest of the pupils and watched with apprehension as the stern-looking witch placed a teetering old stool in front of them. She then placed an old, battered, and rather frayed hat atop the stool. She glanced up from where she stood before waving her hand for attention.  
  
"Attention students: the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin." Every head in the hall now turned to face Alexis and the others. Alexis had no idea what was about to happen and she stared at the floor, prepared for the worst. When she looked up, she noticed the very few murmurs and whispers that had ensued this announcement. Many were looking with quizzical expressions on their faces, as if this were the first sorting ceremony they had been to. Alexis had also noticed, upon observation, that many- well, more than many actually- of the students standing beside her were younger than her. Years younger, in fact. Most of them looked to be merely ten or eleven. Why, she herself was already fifteen. There were a few others that looked to be her age, but not even half of them. This recent realization made her flush slightly, as she felt a bit out of place.  
  
"Now," the witch continued, "when I call your name, please step forward and place the sorting hat upon your head." Alexis was completely bewildered. "Anderson, Abigail!" A short, portly girl stepped up to the stool and placed the hat on her head. The room was quiet only for a few seconds before a deafening shout broke the silence.  
  
"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted. An eruption of applause came from the hall and the now relieved looking girl walked over and sat down at one of the center tables.  
  
"Brokopp, Eliza!" another member of their tightly packed group stepped to the hat.  
  
"Gryffindor!" the thunderous applause that followed were too loud for Alexis to handle. She thrust her hands over her ears and waited for the noise to die down. As soon as it did, names continued to be called, closely followed by a rowdy round of applause. At last, she got to the 'M's.  
  
"Mancino, Carly!" "Madden, Thomas!" and finally, "McLean, Alexis!" Alexis took a deep breath and steadily made her way toward the old hat. It fell over most of her eyes, but just high enough for her to see the students staring at her. Feeling it would ease her nerves, she closed her eyes and was startled when a small voice sounded inside her head. She snapped open her eyes, looking to see who had spoken, but the voice continued to speak, though nobody visible was moving their lips. She closed her eyes once more.  
  
"Hmmm.. Tough one, you are. Courageous and intelligent.... loyal and resourceful as well. Where do you belong? Tough choice, but I think the place for you is." There was a long pause before the words were actually announced. "Gryffindor!!!" 


	2. Staring Contest

Disclaimer: the only character in this story that is mine is Alexis McLean..  
  
Alexis opened her eyes as she realized that the last part had been said aloud. She carefully took the hat off of her head and handed it too the older witch. Seeing a great amount of people smiling and waving her over from the far left table, she figured that that was where she was meant to be. She went and sat down next to a red-haired boy and waited for the sorting to end.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Once the sorting ceremony was over, the headmaster stood up and announced that the feast was to begin. Magically, food appeared on the table and everyone began to dig in.  
  
"Will somebody pass me the but'er?" The boy next to her asked while reaching for some mashed potatoes. Seeing as how the butter was right next to her, she picked it up and handed it over to him. He hadn't noticed and was now piling chicken onto his plate, so she cleared her throat distinctively. He turned to look at her.  
  
"Umm.. Here. I believe you wanted this," she said politely.  
  
"Oh, thanks. Hey! You're one of the new students aren't you?" Alexis nodded her head. "Did you come from Durmstrang?" Again, Alexis nodded her head and her beautiful sandy brown hair fell down past her shoulders. The boy looked at her as if in amazement for a couple seconds before coming back to reality and saying, "Oh! My name's Ron by the way. Ron Weasley." He held out his hand for her to shake. She took it and smiled.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Ron Weasley," he smiled back and she couldn't help notice it was a warm, innocent smile. "Did you change your mind about the butter?" she asked, indicating the still untouched plate of butter she held in her hands. He smiled and took the butter, then turned back to his two friends.  
  
Alexis looked around the room and her eyes fell upon one of the most gorgeous boys she had ever seen. He was sitting at a table at the totally opposite end of her. His white-blond hair shone in the candlelight as he talked to a girl on his right. She must have said something funny because he started to laugh. He had the most amazing smile. He suddenly looked up and his eyes locked on hers. She tried to look away, but didn't dare. His eyes were so enchanting. She continued to look deep into them, wondering if their gaze could see right through her. After one last look, the boy turned away. Alexis did the same, as she found it was time to go back to their common rooms.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Phoenix feather." The portrait of a large women in a silky pink dress swung open to let them all in. Alexis climbed through the doorway along with the others and was amazed by the sight before her. The immense room was decorated purely in red and gold. It was so beautiful and looked so welcoming. She could just imagine herself snuggling up in on of those big, comfy chairs late at night, doing her homework or just watching the fire. A bushy brown haired girl led her into her dorm. She walked in and saw that her trunk had already been brought up. She pulled back the curtains to her canopy bed and plopped right down, already exhausted by the day's events. She quickly changed into her baby blue pajamas and instantly fell asleep. 


	3. Sweet Dreams

Chapter the third: Sweet Dreams  
  
By: Alexis McLean  
  
Disclaimer: The only character in the story that is mine is Alexis.. for now.  
  
While asleep, Alexis found herself having sweet dreams about certain new faces she had met earlier that day. The first face she recognized, even though it was sub-conscientiously, was that of the flaming red-haired boy, Ron. He gave you one of his warm, good-natured smiles. It was the type of smile that made the heart melt. She smiled slyly in her sleep and continued with her dream. The next faces that jumped out at her was of the gorgeous, blond haired boy she had locked eyes with. Again, in her dream, they locked eyes, and she felt as if the gaze would never end. Truth be told, she didn't think she wanted it to.  
  
"Wake up Sugar, it's time for school," the alarm clock beside her bed told Alexis as the early morning sun poured into her room through the window. Feeling as though she had just fallen asleep, Alexis hesitated in opening her eyes. Once she had, she immediately regretted it. Rubbing her eyes, she slipped out of bed and gathered her robes. Once dressed, she took one last look in the mirror. Gazing at her reflection, she saw her deep brown eyes staring back at her. A couple strands of her sandy brown hair had been pulled back in a half ponytail. She had applied a small amount of make-up, just enough to put some color on her face. Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her books and headed down into the common room. There, she saw Ron and his two friends getting ready to leave. Seeing her, Ron waved politely.  
  
"You wanna walk with us?" he asked. Alexis smiled and ran up to meet them.  
  
They walked to the great hall together for breakfast, where they were handed their new class schedules. Looking it over, Alexis heard large groans of displeasure from all three of the people sitting next to her. Without even asking, she quickly found out what had caused them.  
  
"Double potions with Slytherin again? Don't we ever get a break from them?" Alexis heard the boy to the left of Ron sigh. Glancing back at her schedule, Alexis saw that they did indeed have double potions with the Slytherins, first class of the day as a matter of fact. Alexis' eyes lit up.  
  
"Oooooh, I absolutely LOVE potions! It's my favorite class!" she exclaimed. It was now Ron's turn to speak.  
  
"It won't be for long, after Snape's through with you," he said gloomily, as if this Snape person was the Spawn of Satan. She was soon to find out, however, that this thought wasn't exactly wrong..  
  
A/N: ok, I know my chapters are short, but hopefully after reading a while, you'll reply. And by the way, in case it wasn't obvious, PLEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSEEEEE reply! Even if you don't like it, I guess I could stand some flames. At least it lets me know that somebody has read it. Plus, constructive criticism could help me figure out what's wrong with the story. Thank you to the *two* people that have replied so far. I will be updating soon. 


End file.
